Someone
has blown up the Tingis airfield, killing dozens, destroying one dirigible, stealing another.Lieutenant Taziri Ohana arrives to find only
one remaining airship – the Halcyon – still operable.She’d prefer to turn around and go back home
to her husband and small daughter, but when her captain is stabbed in the face
by one of the perpetrators, the issue becomes personal.

So
it’s up, up and away to chase the hijacked blimp.But things escalate quickly and it becomes
clear that the airfield sabotage is just the first step in a bigger plot.With bigger and more dangerous foes to face.

What’s To Like...

The
action starts immediately and is nonstop.The POV changes every chapter, which prevents the storyline from bogging
down.The Alternate World is kewl.Essentially it is the
Mediterranean area where the last Ice Age never ended.This affects the history, the fauna and
flora, and of course the climate.Places
like England and Germany are in deep-freeze, and the Saharan region of Africa (“Ifrica”)
is lush, fertile, and temperate.The
story takes place almost entirely in alt-Morocco (“Marrakesh”), which is
unusual for Steampunk.

Women
dominate the Marrakesh government, and that’s intriguing.Overall, the Ifricans are more civilized that
the Europans; that’s a pleasant change-of-pace.Some good guys die, and some bad guys get
away.The Burning Sky is part of a
trilogy, but it is also a standalone novel.

Excerpts...

Syfax thumbed his nose.“She might have even shot the captain by
accident.Never forget your SCARF’s,
lieutenant.”

“Scarves?What’s that mean?”

“Stupid, Crazy, And Random Factors,” Kenan
answered from the cabin.“Crimes that just
don’t make any sense.”(loc.
396)

Is
that all?Is that all you have to say
over the body of a man who lived and died at your side?A man who followed you half way around the
world, who gave up his people, his country, his gods, even his language to
stand by you, to put his flesh between you and death countless times?

He swallowed and stared down at the
weathered face lying still in the dust.His own reflection stared up from the dark pool of blood under the man’s
head.Lorenzo nodded to himself.Then
that’s all there is.(loc.
1785)

Kindle Details...

The Burning Sky sells for $2.99 at Amazon. The
other two books in the series, The Broken Sword and
The Bound Soul are the same price.Joseph Robert Lewis has penned two other
trilogies set in the same alt-world, so you have lots of opportunities to immerse yourself in it and follow his
fascinating characters.

“Where is a priest or a ghost when you need one?”(loc. 1809)

I’ve
read Book 2 of the Halcyon trilogy; it is reviewed here.The Broken
Sword was more of a “quest” story, whereas The Burning Sky seemed to focus on some “larger” themes.The scent of revolution hangs in the Marrakeshian
air, and a worldwide conflict is not unlikely.

The main
characters are different – Taziri here; Don Lorenzo in Book 2. Part of the backstory – Lorenzo and Qhora
meeting in a disastrous invasion of the New World by the Espani is still not detailed.Maybe that’s part of a different trilogy.

8 Stars.This really is a page-turner.The third book is on my Kindle; we shall see
how Joseph Robert Lewis wraps up the series.

Saturday, December 22, 2012

It’s
1820, and Nicholas Santa has set out to achieve his life’s goal – to reach the
North Pole.His wife (Jessica) and son
(Jon) are with him on his quest.But
none of them are experienced explorers, and they’re not well-equipped for an
Arctic trek.They’ll probably die, but
at least they’ll die together.

Unfortunately, when Nicolas falls down a deep, Wonderlandish hole during
a blizzard, and his wife and son are carried away by the gale-force wind, it
seems more likely they’ll just die separately.

What’s To Like...

Despite
that rather somber summary, Claus : Legend of the
Fat Man has a feel more like a fairytale, albeit an epic one.Tony Bertauski deftly blends in a number of holiday
characters – Frosty the Snowman, elves, The Night Before Christmas story, Jack
Frost, and Rudolph and the rest of the reindeer.The latter don’t really fly, they’ve been
bio-engineered to be able to leap hundreds of miles at a time.Nicholas Santa and Claus are two separate
beings.Half the fun of the book is
trying to figure out how that will resolve itself.

The
pacing is brisk, the chapters are short, and the story doesn’t get bogged down
with excessive descriptiveness. The characters aren’t deep, but they are entertaining.Even the bad guy has a certain charm about
him.The author has fun with fonts and
font sizes, which I found amusingly neat.

But there is also a darker edge to the story.This may be a “once upon a time”tale, but the bad guy was made, not born, that
way; and he is not to be trifled with.

Excerpts...

“There you go again!”The fat man threw his hands up.“That’s
the problem with you warmbloods, you’re always complicating things with thinking, thinking, thinking! You’ve got reality covered in layers of
thought, how do you even tie your shoes?Just be present, just be here, AND STOP WITH THE MONKEY MIND!”(loc.
832)

“He’s not real,” Jon muttered.“It’s just an illusion.”

“He’s as real as you and me.”

“He’s made of snow, Tinsel.That’s not blood and bone.”

“Is that what makes someone real, blood and
bone?A body?Please, Jon.You’re not your body any more than Frosty is snow and ice.”(loc.
2090)

Kindle Details...

Claus : Legend of the Fat Man sells for $2.99 at Amazon.Tony Bertauski offers nine other e-books, all
presumably of the fantasy genre, ranging in price from free to $2.99.

“The North Pole is not a place, the natives said.It is not land.It is ice.” (loc. 240)

CLotFM is another one of those YA stories that
adults will enjoy too.There’s no sex
and I don’t recall any cuss words.There’s
a hint of romance and a tinge of science (e.g. : helium-filled bladders in the
chests of the reindeer so they can "fly").There are a couple
fatalities, but they occur offstage.

I found this book to be festively twisted, just right for the Holiday season.7½ Stars.Add another star if The Grinch Who Stole
Christmas is your kind of Yule story.

It’s
been a year since Meg Murry’s father disappeared.Supposedly, he was on a secret government
project, but people are whispering it was for another woman.Now Meg struggles in school, worries that
she’s ugly, and gets in trouble defending her precocious-but-weird little
brother, Charles Wallace.Her mother
carries on with her scientific work, but Meg’s beginning to wonder if she’ll
ever see Father again.

Ah,
but things are about to change.Calvin
O’Keefe doesn’t think she’s ugly, and he’s on the high school football
team.A strange lady – Mrs. Whatsit –
has moved into the nearby haunted house, and Charles Wallace says she’s a great
friend.And one night, whenCalvin, Charles, and Meg find themselves
drawn to the haunted house, they are both surprised and excited when Mrs.
Whatsit announces that they will all be going out to rescue Mr. Murry.Immediately.

What’s To Like...

A Wrinkle In Time is a YA novel – bordering on
Juvenile – yet introduces Quantum Physics concepts to the reader.It features a high school girl as its
protagonist, which was almost unheard of for sci-fi in those days.It promotes science in general, and chemistry
in particular : in order to stop the UE from hypnotizing her, Meg recites the
Periodic Table.How kewl is that?!

There’s
no sex or cussing, and only a hint of puppy-dog romance developing.The fate of the world hangs in
the balance, yet no one gets killed.Madeleine L’Engle takes you – and the kids – to several fascinating
worlds with equally fascinating creatures.

There is a happy ending, but there’s also a
strong message delivered about the danger of conformity.The pacing is crisp (a must for a YA book), there
are riddles to solve, and some thought-provoking scenes, such as when Meg tries
to explain “seeing” to sentient creatures that have no eyes.Last but not least, there is both
time-hopping and dimension-hopping.

Kewlest New Word...

Swivet (n.) :A panic or extreme
discomposure.Well, tesseract is probably the kewlest new
word, but it’s a made-up one, at least in the sense that it’s used here.

Excerpts...

When they got back to the house Mrs. Murry
was still in the lab.She was watching a
pale blue fluid move slowly through a tube from a beaker to a retort.Over a Bunsen burner bubbled a big,
earthenware dish of stew.“Don’t tell
Sandy and Dennys I’m cooking out here,” she said.“they’re always suspicious that a few chemicals
may get in with the meat, but I had an experiment I wanted to stay with.”(pg.
36 )

“What do you want?” she asked.“It isn’t paper time yet; we’ve had milk
time; we’ve had this month’s Puller Prush Person; and I’ve given my Decency
Donations regularly.All my papers are
in order.”

The woman pushed the ball away.“Oh, no!The children in our section never
drop balls!We haven’t had an Aberration
for three years.” (pg.
101)

“There is such a thing as
a tesseract.”(pg. 20)

I decided to read A
Wrinkle In Time because I was curious how a multiple-award-winning YA
book could also end up high on the Banned Books list.ANAICT, it stems from one short passage where
the kids are naming the “great fighters against the darkness” in history, and
Jesus is listed as just one of a number of enlightened people who did that (pg. 85).Heavens to Betsy.

There are some witches who turn out to not be witches, and a crystal
ball that is more like a remote camera than a fortune-telling device.Compared to Harry
Potter, this is very tame stuff.And good luck on getting HP banned.

Adults may find the storyline to be too simplistic, particularly the “method”
used to overcome the darkness.But we
are not the target audience. When you keep
that in mind, AWIT is a light, delightful
read, and a book that really isn’t just another cookie-cutter 1960’s sci-fi
story.

8 Stars.Highly recommended as a book for kids, but
sufficiently entertaining for adults as well.Add another star if you happen to be YA and are interested in science.

Ul
Qoma and Beszel are sister cities.In
fact, they occupy the same space, just kinda sorta in different
dimensions.Their inhabitants can see
each other, but to do so is a serious breach of the law.So they’ve all been taught to “unsee” and
“unhear”.Kinda.Sorta.

Inspector
Tyador Borlu has a problem.A body was
dumped in his jurisdiction, Beszel.But she
was apparently murdered in Ul Qoma.Did
the perpetrators breach?And how does one go about solving the case
when half the crime scene is in another dimension?

What’s To Like...

The City & The City will make you work.You get dumped into the story from Detective
Borlu’s perspective.He’s lived in
Beszel all his life, so he’s used tothedouble-city and
“unseeing”.The reader isn’t, and part
of the fun is trying to catch up to Borlu as to how the whole thing works.

At
its core, this is a murder-mystery, but it’s a lot more complex than that.There is a fantasy element – there are
legends of a third dimension, Orciny, hidden in the shadows of both cities.And there’s a dystopian element – the Breach
enforcers who appear out of nowhere when citizens neglect to “unsee” or illegally cross
over from one city to the other.Offenders simply disappear.

The City & The City is also a
vocabularian’s delight with both real words like encomia, carytids, and tendentious
to challenge the reader, and made-up ones, like abhistory.It would feel
“forced” if done by most authors; China Miéville makes it flow smoothly.

Kewlest New Word...

Alterity (n.) :The state of being different;
“otherness”.

Excerpts...

It may or may not have been Beszel, that we built, back
then, while others may have been building Ul Qoma on the same bones.Perhaps there was one thing back then that
later schismed on the ruins, or perhaps our ancestral Beszel had not yet met
and stand-offishly entwined with its neighbour.I am not a student of the Cleavage, but if I were I still would not
know.(pg.42
)

It was not a soundless dark.It was not without intrusions.There were presences within it that asked me
questions I could not answer, questions I was aware of as urgencies at which I
failed.Those voices again and again
said to me, Breach.What had touched me sent me not into mindless
silence but into a dream arena where I was quarry.(pg. 241)

The City and
The City is an ambitious novel, what with multiple genres, complex
writing, and deliberately making things confusing at the start for the
reader.Indeed, at the end, a number of
things are still “hazy”.But China
Miéville makes it work.This is not
something for lesser writers to try.

This
is my fourth China Miéville book, and they’ve all been superb.Assuming he has a long writing career, I
predict Miéville will be mentioned in the same sci-fi/fantasy company as Kurt
Vonnegut, Neil Gaiman, and Robert Heinlein.Yeah, he’s that good. 9 Stars.And if you want something from Miéville a bit
lighter and less challenging, may I suggest Un Lun
Dun (reviewed here), which is still my favorite book of his.

Wednesday, December 12, 2012

Seven
short stories from the fantastic writing talent called The Eclective, and just in
time for the Mayan Apocalypse.There are
androids and asteroids; exes and goddesses; big waves and big bangs; and last
but not least – rednecks and butt plugs.

What’s To Like...

Two
of the seven tales aren’t technically apocalypse-themed, but that’s just fine.The writing is strong and the editing is
superb.The variety is nice and so are
the stories’ tones – some are spine-chilling, some are heartwarming, one’s a
cliffhanger, and one’s hilarious.Yeah,
guess where the butt plugs fit in.Each
author gives a kewl closing comment about the Apocalypse, one of which is given
below.

The
stories are :

01. The
Shifting Sands – Tara West

02.Light – Emma Jameson

03.Alien Butt Plugs – P.J. Jones

04.Seeds – M. Edward McNally

05.Cleavers – Heather Marie Adkins

06.The Last Christmas –
Alan Nayes

07.Combustion – R.G. Porter

Kewlest New Word...

Integument : a tough, outer, protective layer;
especially that of a plant or animal.

Excerpts...

Never let it be said a thermonuclear warhead was
ineffective except as a deterrent.Turns
out, in practice it worked pretty well.If human beings had still mattered, the 5-10% radiation that followed
and remained for the next thirty years would have been a significant
issue.Zombies, however, didn’t mind
radiation.Since, like me, they did not
breathe, the damage – greater than 44% - to their lungs was meaningless.(loc.
452)

”Did ya hear a sound?” Randy asked, before
casting his line back into the placid water.

“Yep,” Jeb nodded.“Kinda like a thwump.”

“Yep,” Randy said matter-of-factly, as if
dealing with space fellas was an everyday occurrence.“Thems aliens....Better get a cork.”(loc.
589)

Kindle Details...-

I bought The
Apocalypse Collection for $0.99 at Amazon, which is the usual
price for any of the Eclective’s anthologies.I think all of them have been offered for free at some time or another,
except for this new release.But if you
wait long enough...

“Tara West likes eating organic foods, so that when the
apocalypse comes, she’ll be the healthiest one to die.”(loc. 296, kewl closing comment)

Different readers will find different
favorites in The Apocalypse Collection.Mine happened to be stories 02, 03, 04, and 06.But the other three are worthwhile too.

All seven will entertain you.Each is a compelling tale with an
end-of-world or paranormal setting.Which, when you think about it, is amazing for a short story – you have
to build a world, introduce a disaster, develop one or more characters, and
garnish with a memorable lesson or message.All within a dozen pages or so.Wowza.7½ Stars.

Sunday, December 9, 2012

Someone
has stolen a recently-discovered elven Summoning Manual, and butchered the
five mages that had been examining it.It
is up to a young mage, Farden, to retrieve the book and defeat the UE (Ultimate Evil) before something
terrible is unleashed upon the world of
Emaneska.

Farden has his work cut out.He
doesn’t know who the thief is, where the book is, when the summoning spell
might be invoked, and what exactly might be loosed upon the world.And the fact that the various nations of
Emaneska are at each other's throats doesn’t make the task any easier.

What’s To Like...

The
setting has an Arthurian feel; indeed, one of the nations is called Albion.For the most part, we are dealing with humans
and dragons, although there is also a vampyre and a werewolf.Elves are hinted at, and we encounter both
good and bad mages.

The vampyre is one of the good guys; that’s a pleasant change.Farden is anything but your perfect hero – he’s
got a drug habit, is short-tempered, and frankly is not the smartest mage on
the block.I like that.

The world-building is nicely done, and each chapter starts with a neat
pseudo-quote.There aren’t any slow
spots, the UE is a worthy foe, and Ben Galley throws in a couple
twists to keep you on your toes.The
ending is satisfying – the theft of the spell book is resolved.The next book of the series is also set up,
which means you shouldn’t expect all loose ends to get tied up.

Excerpts...

Farden patted the sword resting against his
shoulder-blade.“Politics can run a
city, or define a nation, but men and magick are still what counts.You can’t hammer in a nail with words.”

“No but you can start a war with them, that’s
why we have to be careful with the Sirens,” said Vice, and he slowly came to a
halt.He looked at his friend.“Can you handle this, Farden?”(loc. 1558)

“Beware
the monster behind the door, watch out for

The spiders
all over the floor.

Be
brave like your father, proud warrior and all,

Something
is gnawing at bones in the hall.

Maybe
you’ll run, or maybe you’ll fight,

Or
maybeyou’ll sleep soundly all through
the night.

Never
you mind, now close your eyes,

Pray
you sleep well, not be food for the flies.”(loc. 5164)

Kindle Details...-

The Written sells for $3.99 at Amazon. Its sequel, Pale
Kings, is the same price.I haven’t
read the second book, but I’m guessing this series is going to be more than a duology.

“It’s not even noon yet and a man has to deal with dragons.”(loc. 240)

There
are some weaknesses.The overall
plotline is predictably straightforward, and the aforementioned twists are for
the most part telegraphed.Farden
retells events to his colleagues that we’ve already read, and Ben Galley has a
penchant for certain words, like “leant” which appears 53 times.The storytelling is interesting, but not compelling.

Still, for a first effort by a 23-year-old author, this is very good,
and in the blurb to the sequel, Galley writes, “PALE
KINGS aims to leave THE WRITTEN quivering and whimpering in the shadows.“If
he achieved that goal, then this could develop into a very memorable series.7½ Stars.

The
title is only half-correct.Mendoza is
where Hollywood will be, but it’s 1862, the greater Los Angeles area is little
more than a dusty collection of shacks and saloons, and the movie industry is
non-existent.The Company has sent
Mendoza there to collect a number of plants that will shortly become extinct.

But
the climate is changing, the plants are dying out faster than Mendoza can
collect them, there is jealousy among Mendoza’s colleagues, and worst of all
are the troubling nightmares she’s having about her lost love from the 1600’s.There are even hints that the Company may not
be as beneficent as they claim.

What’s To Like...

For
those who are not reading this series in order, Kage Baker gives the backstory
in a handy 3-page prologue.There are
new Company agents to get to know – Einar the zoologist; Oscar the
anthropologist, Porfirio the Company overseer, and Juan Bautista, a young
ornithologist who gets way too attached to some of his work. Joseph is absent, but Imarte is back to spice
things up.

The
setting – 1860’s California is superbly done.There isn’t much of a plot for the first 2/3 of the book, but it’s fun
to be immersed in the lives of Mendoza and company – taking field trips for
specimens, ducking from the occasional gunshot, and eating crappy food.Einar is a film enthusiast, and he smuggles
some early movies in for entertainment.Those are a joy to “watch”.

There is some humor – Juan Bautista’s pet birds are – well – a hoot.Imarte’s role is that of a saloon girl, and
she collects several love-struck “clients”, who tend to not appreciate others
vying for her attentions.Oscar’s
efforts to sell a “Criterion Patented Brassbound Pie Safe” are subtly hilarious.

The
Alt-History and Time Travel aspects are well done.And Romance wheels its way back into Mendoza’s
life, something she’s been missing for a couple centuries.As always, Kage Baker’s writing is
excellent.

Kewlest New Word...

Shigella (n.) :A bacterium that is an
intestinal pathogen of humans and other primates, some kinds of which cause
dysentery.

Excerpts...

If I had only
stayed...

“You couldn’t have, man,” Einar said.“You know that.You belong to the Company.First time Dr. Zeus had a job for you
somewhere else, you’d have had to go.And
even if you stuck around, do you think you could have kept on micromanaging
their lives forever?We may be
immortals, but we can’t control mortal destinies.We can help them when they want help, but
that’s it.When they want to destroy
themselves, not even God can stop them.(pg.194 )

“There are those, sir, who might construe
your detestable negligence as the next thing to treason, which, let me remind
you, is a hanging offense.”Ingraham
brandished his cane.

The driver explained where he was minded to
put that cane if Mr. Calliman shook it at him one more time, and added that Mr.
Calliman was going to find it uncomfortable to sing or, for that matter, dance
in any shows with the cane in that particular location.(pg. 212)

“We are the actors on a stage where the curtain hasn’t risen!” (pg. 13)

I’ve made my peace with this series – more
than anything else, it is Science Fiction.There is some Action-Adventure in Mendoza in
Hollywood, but it’s towards the end, and is there mostly to advance the “big
picture” plot of the Company’s manipulation of the cyborg protagonists.This isn’t Xena, Warrior Princess; this is
Mendoza, Immortal Botanist.

I’ve
been reading this series in order, and MIH does
advance the overlying storyline.We
discover that snafus can occur in the Company agenda, and that there may be dire
consequences for Immortals who the Company no longer wants around.Still, this is beginning to feel like Robert Jordan’s
WoT series – there are a lot more questions being raised than being answered.7½ Stars.I’ll
probably read at least one more book In the series, but I don’t feel compelled
to read all 9 books.

Monday, November 26, 2012

It’s
been a year since the real world and the world of legends merged, and all isnot
well.The elves (“Aes dana”) are at war with the
United States of 1899, and both in turn are threatened by a more sinister and
evil force.The latter can call upon the
undead to do its bidding, as well “turn” living creatures to the dark
side.Both types of baddies are deadly;
the only difference is that the former move slower than the latter.

Even worse than that, Bugbear the Goblin is chained upside down in
an Aes dana dungeon, and the
interrogation is about to begin.How
much use will the Four Basic Precepts of Non-Logical Thoughtbe to him now?

What’s To Like...

Noggle Stones – The Tragic Empire has the same
“flavor” is its predecessor – a YA book that is mostly a light-hearted
adventure; with some paranormal darkness mixed in for balance.As before, Wil Radciffe includes some neat
drawings for the reader's enjoyment.

Bugbear is the main protagonist, and his “Illogical Thought” precepts
will keep you chuckling.Manchester and
Maga are back; so is Riley Ratcatcher. The
Ogres play a smaller role, and there are a whole bunch of human and Aes dana characters to get to know. There’s even a way-kewl patchwork creature – part
lion, part elephant – named Tembo, who hopefully will continue to show up in
the series.And finally, if you’re a
Teddy Roosevelt fan, you’ll love this tale.

Beyond
the entertainment, the book has a serious message about prejudice – both of
species and of cosmetic appearance.The
ending is satisfying, albeit straightforward.The Ultimate Evil is not totally vanquished (indeed, it’s not even identified yet),
which points to a sequel.That’s
something to look forward to.Kewlest New Word...

Seneschal (n.) : a steward or major-domo in a
noble household; usually in charge
of domestic arrangements and the administration of servants.

Excerpts...

”Who do you serve?” he finally barked, after sifting
through his better frustrations.

“Whom,” Bugbear said.

“And this Whom, from what kingdom does he
hail?”

Bugbear sighed.“No,” he said with a shake of his head, which
flaked off a crust of raspberry tart that had lodged in his mutton chops.“Whom
is not a person.Rather it is the
correct form of the pronoun you were attempting to use.”

The guard looked to Bugbear, tilting his
head with curiosity... before suddenly catching himself as the large helmet
almost pulled him to the ground.“And
this pronoun,” the guard started, eyes narrow and hard as he attempted to
regain his dignity, “How large are his armies?”(loc. 58)

Riley frowned as he nocked his arrow on the
bowstring.“You should not have put so
much confidence in us, Turdmore,” the beast boy whispered to the goblin.“The queen has not had time to practice with
us of late.”

Tudmire smiled as he patted the boy on the
shoulder.“Don’t let those bullies
intimidate you, m’boy.Remember, what’s
bad for the goose is good for the gambler.”(loc. 1415)

Kindle Details...I bought Noggle Stones Book Two – The Tragic
Empire for $2.99 at Amazon.Noggle Stones Book One – The Goblin Apprentice, is
the same price.You really should read
them in order.

“How can you kill what is already dead?”(loc. 2250)

My
only quibble with Noggle Stones 2 is that,
at 212 pages, it was over too fast.Noggle Stones 1(reviewedhere) is listed as being 390 pages, and
that felt like the right length.Then
again, maybe if the author had pumped another 200 pages into NS-2, I’d be griping that it was too long and too
wordy.

There is a hint that Dragons may show up somewhere down the line in this
series.And who knows what other beasts
and beasties Wil Radcliffe might introduce?I find the non-stereotypical portrayal of the elves, ogres, patchworks,
and goblins to be a real treat.8 Stars.

Saturday, November 24, 2012

Adam
Dalgleish missed the boat.Father
Baddeley, his boyhood curate, wrote to him asking him to come visit and give
him some "professional advice". Since Dalgleish is a detective, it could be a criminal matter.Unfortunately, Dalgleish was laid up in the hospital, and by the time he got
out and up to Toynton Grange, where the old curate lived,Father Baddeley had passed away.

No
foul play is suspected, but now it seems a suspicious amount of dying is going on there.It “feels” like murders are being committed, but where is the
evidence or the motive?

What’s To Like...

The setting is neat; Toynton Grange is kind of
a hospice for terminally-ill wheelchair-bound patients.It’s a small operation – only five patients
by the time Dalgleish gets there, plus a staff of eight or so.That makes for a nice number of suspects.And while some of the characters were more
congenial than others; there were no blatant “black hats”.So the suspect list remains sizable
throughout the book, shrinking only whenever another body is discovered.

The writing style is “flowery”, especially at the beginning.I found it distracting, although things got
better once Dalgleish started his investigation.There were also a whole bunch of descriptive
passages; which slowed things down more than they set the scene.There are clues to be found amongst the flowers and the descriptions,
but both Dalgleish and I missed them.

The ending was good – neither too obvious nor too arbitrary.It was nice to get acquainted with Dalgleish,
despite him being yet another fictional sleuth burnt out and contemplating
retiring from the force.The book is a
stand-alone, and it’s hard to say if I was missing anything by not reading the
series in order.

Mogg, his greatest and, she sometimes thought, his only
friend, had been christened Morgan Evans but preferred to use his nickname,
regarding it as more appropriate to a poet of the people’s struggle.It was not that Mogg struggled greatly
himself; indeed Ursula had never met anyone who drank and ate so resolutely at
other people’s expense.He chanted his
confused battle cries to anarchy and hatred in local pubs where his hairy and
sad-eyed followers listened in silence or spasmodically banged the table with their
beer mugs amid grunts of approval.(pg. 37 )

She wondered how she had never noticed it
before, that irritating note of unctuous reproof in his voice.She turned abruptly away.The hand, thus rejected, slipped heavily from
her shoulders.She remembered suddenly
what he reminded her of: the sugar Father Christmas on her first Christmas
tree, so desirable, so passionately desired.And you bit into nothingness; a trace of sweetness on the tongue and then
an empty cavity grained with white sand.(pg. 238)

“We all suffer from a progressive
incurable disease.We call it
life.”(pg. 51)

The
worst thing about The Black Tower was
something P.D. James probably had no control over – the back cover blurb.It gives far too much away – telling you the
number of people that are going to die, and essentially who they are.That thoroughly quashed any suspense the
story had.

Beyond that, my only quibble is the way the wheelchair-bound patients
were portrayed.I was expecting them to
be courageous, innovative, and some to be evil enough to be suspects.But instead they were mostly pitiable.

For
me, The Black Tower was an okay read,
but not a memorable one.If I find
another Dalgleish novel at the used-book store, I'll probably give the series another go.It might be that I just picked the wrong one
to start off with.7 Stars.